Gear, not Stuff

The last few years has seen me evolving my fitness routines … "significantly", to say the least.  I have settled on a few routines, and as I've gotten past the "novice" stage, my knowledge & desire for better gear has evolved quickly (and of course, expensively!).

Mainly, my workouts now consist of: 

1. Seasonally (warm), The Pool where I do my deep-end jump-squats.  I use my 35lb Thor's Hammer kettle bell from Tribe WOD

2. Seasonally (cold), weekly Crossfit visits, where I use my Battle Bottle 64oz "supertanker" and my Polar HR monitor

3. Rucking (Home), GoRuck Plate Carrier with 45lb plate

4. Rucking (Office), GoRuck Navy GR-1 XPAC with a 30lb "long" plate

5. Extras - Brute Force sandbag, currently loaded with 20lbs of sand, and an American Ruck 30lb "paincake" (hybrid ruck-plate / kettle-bell)

Each piece of gear here went through a few rounds of iteration before I landed on the items that simply "worked" for me.  Sometimes due to increasing ability (pool workouts started with a much smaller KB), sometimes due to a lack of knowledge (didn't understand the different Ruck Plate sizes, so I had to re-order a "long" RPC and the big-bitch 45lb plate from Go Ruck).  When I ordered the PainCake, I is-read the description, thinking it was a 20lb plate.  I let my 20lb plate move on - then this 30lb plate arrived - it's 20 KILOGRAMS.  The Battle Bottle is a bit excessive - but I wanted a bottle w/ a sleeve that could hold my phone, as i run my Polar HR monitor, and track my progress.  Mostly though, figuring out the GR-1 XPAC was "The One" was a royal BITCH.  I went through four other packs, and chased a number of "samurai" packs before finding this one.  I was leery of looking too "tactical", and the 5.11 packs were covered in Molle loops and had 1,000 zipper & velcro pockets, and generally were very nicely made & affordable - but just not "me". The GoRuck "Rucker 4.0" was a beast and I LOVED the orange interior, but it was too small to function as a hybrid office pack, and the lack of a front pocket pissed me off.  The XPAC version of the GR-1 has zero exterior Molle loops, no big "GO RUCK" logo, and in the Navy color w/ tan interior it "looks" very civilized.  the lighter interior color helps when digging out gear, and this bag has a few pockets - not TOO DAMN MANY like the 5.11 - just the right configuration.  the front pocket is a bit tight to pull out my BOSE headphones case, and I wish the straps had a loop or two for a sternum strap - but if i really want to load up, I'll just use the RPC.

So, I may add another interior sandbag to the Brute, I may transition to a smaller Battle Bottle, and I need to trade my 30lb long plate for a 20 … but really … what I have here is a very solid setup, and I could't be more pleased!

New Year / New You

 

For 2023 I'm going to be tracking five key metrics to my Health & Fitness:

1.  Sleep:  Foundational to EVERYTHING.  My Öura ring tracks it wonderfully, and i have a few goals for improvement.  Before the end of the year, I was trying Natural Calm & Melatonin gummies, which seemed to help with sleep latency (the time to fall asleep).  I am going to be setting more consistent bed times / awake times, which along with morning walks should help "set" & regulate my brain's circadian rhythm.  A new sleep mask & earplugs should help reduce the number of times I wake up, and my overall goal is to increase my Deep Sleep, and the over/under on time in bed / time asleep.  A few simple "guidelines" will remain in place, including minimizing screen time / eating / exercise within two hours of bedtime.  No coffee after 12pm, iced tea in the afternoon, and only water after 5pm.  More water = more better.  I love the metrics on this, and it'll be fun to monitor and tweak as we go.

2. Blood Sugar:  The body's fuel gauge doesn't lie!  I really want to lean-in on Marty Kendall's teachings, including the Macro & Micro Masterclasses to help manage & minimize cravings.  REALLY interesting work draws som very tight correlation between waking Blood Sugar and weight numbers, and I want to drill this shit down HARD. 

3.  PE Ratio:  The 1:1 protein to energy ration is SUPER powerful, and i want to incorporate this with a renewed focus on whole, single-ingredient foods.  Not necessarily "paleo" or low-carb, or anything … just "real food", in the proper ratio, with roughly 190g pf protein and an 1800 calorie cap each day.  This should drive satiety, AND muscle growth.

4.  Activity:  I'm loving the Rucking, missing my pool workouts, but looking to pick up a few Crossfit times a month.  I'd "like" to find another home workout or calesthenic type thing that govves with me, but I'm hitting a motivation-wall.  Need to just get over it.  I want to continue the Never Skipping Monday / hard Things on Friday routine, and the 10,000 steps a day needs to become base-level table-stakes.  Going early or even first thing seems to work best, as the days always get crazy & it becomes tough to work it into smaller & smaller schedule holes.

5.  Weight:  If the rest of this works, the weight should continue to take care of itself.  Watching it, and then tweaking things as needed to continue is kinda what I do, and while it took me a LONG time to get to this point, it feels GREAT to have figured out my matrix of success.  

Goal:  Meeting the old Marine Corps height / weight standards (190lbs for me), with the minimum PFT of 3 pull-ups, 80 sit-ups, and a 3 mile run under 30 minutes